The Week
by Ruffle14
Summary: Once a year to uphold respect and fend of bullies Clary Fray makes herself popular in the course of one week, before retiring back to her usual self. What happens when a certain Jace Lightwood meets Clary for the first time in her popular week? Can he bring out this confident girl again? My story is much better then the summery so read it! All Human. Rated T to be safe. :)
1. Chapter 1

**This is my second fan fic. I know this chapter is short but I want to know if I should keep writing it. Please read and review. It would make my day. I probably have lots of spelling mistakes because my spell check keeps deleting my work so sorry about that. Now enjoy chapter one. **

It's coming up. The biggest bother of my normal life, but still quite necessary for me to maintain this happy uneventful life. My school is filled with vicious, snotty rich kids, and then vicious, snotty, poor kids too. I was just lucky enough to be in the public school that was placed in the most idiot place you could have put it, and it absolutely corrupted my schools social hierarchy. We were just on the border between an unexplainably wealthy neighborhood, and an unbelievably poor one.

I wouldn't call each side a gang, but they are rivals and it took me years to figure out the perfect nirvana to escape this meaningless war of the classes. My solution is this. When I entered middle school five years ago I didn't tell anyone where I was from. Truthfully it was because my parents had split up the year before after my father cheated on my mother, and just the fairness of life led my father to be living in the high class neighborhood while my mom lived in a gutter. The courts had decided to give us a rotating schedule so I would live with my mom half the week, and then be tortured for the other half of the week living with my asshat of a father. This rotation that I called my life made me lucky enough to end up at the school right in the middle.

No one knew or knows now anything about my background other then my best friend Simon. I am the mystery girl at school. The infamous Clary Fray.

To keep other people from approaching me or looking deeper into my past I at first tried to stay silent, and just ignore everyone, but along with that silence came harsh bullying, which leads me to my biggest bother. To gain respect that will last the entire school year and keep people from asking questions, I have one week where I become the **it** girl of the school. Instead of my usual sweatpants and a T-shirt outfit, I wear elaborate dresses, designed by a close family friend, Magnus Bane, go to the parties, socialize and give people an image of myself that I hate to think about, but it does the trick and for the rest of the year my respect is upheld.

After about the third year people at my school, mainly the boys, took notice of the tradition, and began waiting for it, and talking about it. I despised this part of the year. Once the whispering starts I can tell its time for another torturous week, of my fake self, not that I need this reminder. It's on all my calendars going all the way till next year when I graduate.

I look around the classroom I'm sitting in. I can hear my name being whispered from various sides of the class. The girls sound resentful and the boys sound anticipatory. The bells ring resonates through my ears and I quickly collect my things and am out the door. I see lots of shopping in my near future and another unhappy run in with my father who, thank goodness, tends to be out of the house when I am staying with him. This is going to be a long weekend.

**Jace POV**

I can hear myself sigh loudly on the way home from school. My last week with my friends until I move to L.A. and probably never see them again. A new school, new people, and a new life. This is gonna be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, I am back with a new chapter. Thanks for all the follows, reviews, and favorites. I love, love, love readers ideas and comments so please review. Thanks for reading and enjoy!**

Monday is almost here and my day seems to have gotten worse then I thought possible, which is saying something. Friday I had met with Magnus to discuss my wardrobe for the next week. I used to find everything for myself, but it was such a drag, and Magnus has a great sense of style so I have trusted him with my one week wardrobe for the past two years.

For a while I had wanted to stop, but Simon, Magnus, and my mom had practically forced me into it telling me that it was about time I learned to "come out of my shell". They said it was good for me, and arguing would have just made it worse so I just gave in. This year is going to be especially tiresome because I have to stay at my dad's house the entire week while my mom works on saving her house from the bank. Ugh, what a life.

The taxi driver pulled up to Magnus's apartment complex. I have to pick up next weeks clothes, and pay him back for the shopping. I hurry out of the car and pay the driver, then rush up to Magnus's apartment.

As I step through the door, I am momentarily blinded by stacks of sparkly, glittery, clothing. This is clearly too many clothes for only one week. I face palm myself, and call "Magnus!"

"Yes my darling?" He replies as he seems to emerge from a especially large stack of glittery clothing from behind me, causing me to jump.

"Geese, you scared me," I scream at him. He just silently laughs and makes his way over to properly great me. "Why do you have so many clothes?" I ask him.

"Well you see darling, I was having great difficulty choosing what theme, and you would be this year so I just did what any sane person would do. I bought all three of course", he smiles at me.

"What? Magnus, the thing a normal person would do would be to pick one, or buy some of everything. I can't afford all this. You have to return It.", I say as a huge wave of anger rushes over me. I dig under a pile of glitter and find a pillow. Magnus still seems unnerved. I press the pillow to my face and scream a long stream of profanities into it until I have repeated quite a few, more then three times.

I remove the pillow from my face gasping from my several minute long rants. "Have you calmed down now?" Magnus asks. I nod once and motion for him to continue talking. "The money is not a problem for me. My business has been doing quite well recently, and I want my friend to be happy. Second of all, you could never mix and match these themes; they are much too different and stand well, only on their own. I thought I would let you decide. The rest I can give to charity, and I know how much you love charity. Oh and one last thing. I am quite in awe by your curse word vocabulary. It is quite impressive for such a young girl and I applaud your profanity education." He finished seemingly proud of himself.

"Well let's have a look at my fashion themes, then", I say in a monotone voice. What a drag my life can be. My words seem to excite Magnus even with the lack of emotion. He skips over to three large piles of clothes and begins separating them so I can see the all at the same time.

All the clothes seem to be the normal thing all the girls at my school wear, (crop tops, skinny jeans, short shorts, ect.). I continue scanning the variety of outfits and see what Magnus meant by themes. One pile is made up of lots of tough looking outfits, like leather jackets, tight fitting tank tops and skinny jeans. Another pile is made up of glittering material that would probably make me look like a princess. They seem okay until I rest my eyes on the last set of clothes and silently scold myself for being so stupid as to even consider the other outfits. This pile is made up of earthy colors, with different shades of greens and blues. I quickly take them all in. I choose my favorites of the batch, like an outfit of maroon colored skinny jeans, along with a vintage looking green button up tea shirt that I knew would hang loose on my frame. I took in a few others that I really liked, until I saw it.

It stood out like a shining star, and was clearly different because this dress was much fancier then everything else. Its dark green satin, and smooth even though I hadn't touched it yet, I could just tell. It is fairly simple but so beautiful; I couldn't move my eyes away. Magnus cleared his throat." I got it for the dance this Friday. I had a feeling you would like it."

"Like it? Oh Magnus I love it!" I squeal. He seems genuinely surprised, which is not unusual do to the fact I usually hate clothes but this dress it different. This whole wardrobe is different. "These I brilliant, I love them all", I say referring to the third pile.

"Pile number three it is then." he says excitedly," be here early tomorrow so I can do your make up. Oh, this is so exciting."

I nod in thanks, then run and give him a hug," you're a great friend" I say. Then not wanting to overstay my welcome I walk out the door and bid him a goodbye. Before making my way home. Maybe this week won't be as bad as all the others. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

**An Hour later**

I am sitting in my room trying to create a realistic drawing of the dress Magnus bought me. My past attempts have failed but I'm not giving up. I look up when I hear two sets of footsteps coming up the stairs. Who would have dad brought home?

I peer out of my room and see Father speaking to a tall handsome boy around my age. They both have similar smirks on there faces clearly trying to mask whatever emotion, being near each other is arousing in them.

I clear my throat and step outside, into the hall. Their heads turn towards me. "Who is this?" I ask, putting on a false smile that my father always insisted I wear whenever I was near him.

"Oh, Clary, this is um…Sebastian." father says unenthusiastically, "Maybe we should go discuss this down stairs."

The boy, Sebastian, remained silent but quickly nodded in my father's direction. They led the way down the stairs and into our living room. We all take our seats and I am a bit dumbfounded by how comfortable Sebastian seems to be making himself.

My father clears his throat and begins," well you see Clary. You know the circumstances our your mother and my divorce." I nod slowly not seeing where this is going other then making me upset. He continues on," Well as you know I was seeing someone for a while, and during that while, she got pregnant." Images I didn't want flashed through my mind and I cringed, he persevered anyway to continue the story," This was even before you were born, when your mother and I had already began drifting apart and I was seeing this other woman seriously. After a while though, we broke up and she went and had her baby alone. That boy was Sebastian." I suddenly whip my head around to face the light haired boy. I can't help the revulsion and grotesque images that are harassing my mind, from crossing my face when I look at the two men across from me. Hurriedly, father continues before I can say anything," Sebastian's mother was killed in a car accident recently so he has begun staying here full time" Father finishes.

Sebastian didn't seem the slightest affected by fathers words. Even the part about his mother dying. He seems absolutely heartless and where I should have been feeling pity all I felt was a growing distrust to the light-haired boy.

A heavy silence hung in the air like fog, and I could tell both of them were waiting for me to say something. "Well, that was unexpected." I start," I am sorry to hear about your mother and would like to help in anyway I can. A smile creeped onto his face and I felt myself getting nervous under his attentive eye. I remove my eyes from his strong hold and wait for a response.

"I may have to take you up on that offer, little sis." His creepy smile grew wider and I could feel chills running down my spine. He is just like Father when he is angry; calm and collected but with a fire burning in the back of their eyes. Suddenly I wonder if Sebastian is always angry. The thought chilled me to the bone and I shivered.

"Are you cold?" he asks in a fake concerned voice.

"No, just tired", I reply quickly and excuse myself before running up stairs.

I see the time. It is ten thirty and I have to be up at five thirty to get Magnus to do my makeup. After screaming into my pillow for a few seconds I rested my head and fell into a restless sleep. My dreams reflected my anger towards this week that was already turning out terrible before it has even just begun.


	3. Chapter 3

**I am back with yet another chapter. I am not very good at dialogue or fashion, so if someone could tell me if my dialogue is okay and just comment a cute outfit that is themed the colors of nature, that would be great, cause for me, I don't really care about what I wear. I care about how comfortable it is so I can fall asleep, reading in it and still be comfortable in the morning. Please help me out. I don't really know where the story is going so ideas would be awesome too. Thanks for reading and enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters but the story line is mine**

After two hours of torture under Magnus's hands, I was deemed to be ready for school. I avoided looking in the mirror knowing I probably wouldn't approve of what I looked like. I have always hated when people wear uncomfortable clothes. I mean, the whole purpose of clothes since like, forever is to protect humans from the elements. Not to inflict pain on them.

I barely even know what I am wearing right now. It doesn't really matter I guess. I didn't even want to do this anyway. I was half asleep when I was getting dressed and all I remember is various different colors, of blue and green, and grey, like and overcast sky.

Once again I am putting my blind trust in Magnus. I am hunched over a book in the back of my schools bus with my hair hanging down around my face. I can already feel the eyes on me, waiting until I look up so they can see me this year.

The bus pulls to a stop and I try to get my attitude right for the start of the day. Unfortunately I can't just rely on clothes; I actually have to socialize with the evil little inhabitants of my school.

I can tell that everyone is waiting on the bus for me to get off before them. I guess I can't blame them for being curious; enough makeup on anyone can make them pretty. Pretty but not beautiful and I have been having a hard time not looking down at myself from my own curiosity too.

I stand up, sling my messenger bag over my shoulder, and put on my sexiest smile, while walking towards the front of my bus to get off. Before skipping down the stairs, I turn to look at my audience. All the familiar faces seem interested once more in me. I am not beautiful but I sure am mysterious and mysteries tend to draw attention.

I am about to turn to leave when I catch a glimpse of light blond hair sitting maybe three rows back. My first instinct it to stare at his perfect face, with his chins resting on the back of the chair in front of him. He's clearly a new kid.

My one week senses begin coming out. This will grow the mystery greatly. I finally walk off the bus and people file out until my eyes lay once again on this pretty boy. I widen my smile and go to say hello to him.

"Hey, are you new around here?" I say

"Ya, I just moved here from New York this weekend, my name is Jace, by the way." he replies with a growing smirk on my face.

I match his smirk with one of my own and continue," I'm Clary, Hmm, maybe I could show you around school this week"

Two beautiful figures, with dark hair approached Jace from behind; cutting him off from whatever is was he was going to say. "Hi, I'm Isabelle; I see you have already met my brother"

My face instantly changes into a smile. Clearly these people are going to be popular. I just found my key to one week popularity. These people are going to be my friends. "Hi I'm Clary, we were just talking about me showing, him around the school. I would love if you would join us. It can be really confusing walking around here without help. I know I have been lost about a million times."

Izzy smiles at me, and I think I could sense she was relieved I wasn't just gonna run off after her brother. I looked at the boy standing behind her. He was clearly trying to hide himself, but it will clearly never work. He is handsome. Like the kind of handsome you just choose to look at, like I am never going to date this guy but it makes my eyes feel so good just looking.

Did I seriously just in my mind admit to that in my head? Gosh the week is already getting to me. On the topic though, Jace was clearly like that as well, but I can already tell he knows how handsome he is. Not someone who will be any lasting friend of mine. "Your welcome to come too", I say to the boy half hiding behind Izzy.

"Oh right", Izzy says," this is our other brother Alec."

"Ya, hi, I'm as my sister told you already told you," he mumbles with a glare in his sisters direction," Alec. Um thanks for the offer but I think I can find my way around."

"Oh, well that's fine; just ask if you need any help." I say to Alec, and then turn to his siblings," well then would you guys like to begin the tour?"

"That sounds great," Izzy says enthusiastically.

I turn and begin to lead the two out of the parking lot and into the school. That's when I notice all the stares not just directed at me but at the beautiful people behind me. I smile and sway my hips a little more as I walk. Jace and Izzy are on either side of me and I show them where there first classes are and what classes they have with me. I then show them the cafeteria and the gym.

It turns out that Izzy has all my classes but two and those other two classes have Jace in them. I skipped a grade in math, so I am in his class, and we are both in art. I can feel my popularity meter rising. I also tell them where Alec's classes are in case he gets lost.

The bell rings and we split up and head to our next classes. Izzy and I are walking to English when I feel a tap on my shoulder. I twirl around elegantly showing off to the people around and am met face to face with Aline.

Aline is the most popular girl in school and has been for a while except for my one weeks where I totally take over her kingdom. She knows this is yet another week where she will lose her power. I smile at her which quickly gets her fuming. "Hey Clare-bear, I couldn't help but notice your little blondie boy over there. We all know your not one for lasting relationships, so maybe it would be better if you just hand your eye candy over to me. Oh and new girl, you don't want to be caught up with this little annoyance, I think you should come with me."

I can feel anger rising in the back of my throat but I push it back and reply cheerfully," Well you see Aline, No can do. That boy walking with me clearly does not belong to me. I mean I know you failed history last year but you must at least know that slavery was abolished years ago. I would like to address your previous statement as well, on me not keeping lasting relationships. I do have lasting relationships, you just don't know about them because if you did, you would surely break them up. And as for you, Izzy, you are free to go with her if you want, but I must warn you, she does have rules about how pretty her followers can be and I am sure no matter what she did you will always be prettier then her."

Whoa, my mind is racing. I have been holding in that rant for a year now and it feels great to have it off my chest. Aline is gaping at me and Izzy got the message "you see", Izzy says," I think I will stay with Clary. And if you don't mind we are about to be late to class."

Izzy and I turned and strutted down the hall gazing at the residents of this school who were clearly in shock of out conversation. Popularity meter off the charts and we aren't even in our first class yet. I smile and Izzy whispers," Oh my gosh, I can't believe she said those things. Thanks for telling her off, and for saying that I am prettier then her."

"It's not a problem at all. Aline is just the queen of our school and someone has to tell her off. I think we just gained quite a few fans here for our little speech."

"Wait, you're not the queen of the school? I mean with everyone watching you it kind of seemed likely to me, but I guess your much nicer then some other_ it_ girls.", Izzy continues

From there on, and through the rest of English class I explained my one week thing. She was clearly interested, but also disappointed that I wouldn't be this same girl all the time. I had to explain that I was acting how I normally do at home just here instead, and it was all in the clothes and the attitude. We came to an agreement that we would still be friends after this week and made plans to hang out that afternoon.

The day went on and I had already had three different people ask me out. I guess they thought they had one week to get me interested, but of course I turned them all down. Izzy had her fair share of date proposals as well, but she turned them down too.

At lunch I sat down at my usual table with Simon, and now Izzy, Jace, and Alec. Though as usual during this week I had to say yes to everyone who asked to sit at this table and that was practically the death of me. The entire lunch time for some reason I couldn't take my eyes off of Jace and I noticed Simon wouldn't take his eyes off of Izzy. We kept a steady banter going through the table and tried to ignore all the feeble attempts of flirting directed at us from the new inhabitants of my table, but I seemed to be paying a lot of attention to Jace. I mean he is insanely handsome, but still this isn't like me.

The bell signaling the end of lunch rang and I had my first class with Jace of the day. We walked side by side to math, and his arm kept brushing mine, making me hyper aware of his every move.

In class the teacher assigned Jace to sit in the seat directly to the side of me. This is going to be a long day.

**Comment fashion, suggestions, or anything. I love comments**** I just realized that I have all the grades mixed up so if you notice just ignore it. Pretend Alec and Jace are in the same grade and Clary and Isabelle are in the grade below them. Thanks for reading. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow, two updates in one day. I'm on a role. I still need suggestions on fashion so even if you don't think of your self as fashion forward just comment any decent outfit. It doesn't even have to be something you would wear yourself. Please help me out and leave suggestions. Enjoy **

I keep stealing glances in Jace's direction. Why is it so hard for me to stop looking at him? It makes me angry. No boy should have such an influence on me, and I hardly even know him. Plus all the things I do know about him don't make him out to be a very good guy.

I'm so lost in my thoughts Jace has to poke my arm three times before I realize he is trying to pass me a note. I wait until the teacher isn't looking and let him push a piece of crumpled notebook paper into my hand.

I carefully unfold it and read the sloppy handwriting

_Do you have a boyfriend?_

I feel a blush cover my face. Hopefully I have enough makeup on to hide it. I can't hide my eyes that widened to about double their usual size, though, and I can tell Jace noticed. I can almost feel his smirk burrowing into the side of my face.

I quickly write back

**Why do you want to know?**

I pass it back to him and he quickly responds quickly

_Well I am searching for friends at the moment and I figured whoever your dating would probably be a good friend I would hope._

I feel myself blush once again and reply

**Well then no**

I pass the note back to him. I see him begin to smile and suddenly I am finding the math homework very interesting. He tries to meet my eyes, but I slyly avoid him. I hear him sigh, and he scribbles on the note before passing it back.

_Too bad, I guess I will just have to find my own friends. Why don't you have a boyfriend?_

I quickly read the note. Uhg, I hate it when people ask that. Like why do they think it is so easy to get a nice boyfriend? If a decently good guy asked me out I would probably say yes. If any of the boys who asked me out today had, seriously, asked me out during some other week of the school year I would have totally said yes, but this week, another one of my rules is that I can only say yes to the most popular guy in the school, and at the moment Jace's status is rising.

I almost feel compelled to tell him this is all an act, but if I do I won't have a chance with him again. I mean I am not a cool person in real life. He wouldn't like my real self. I hold onto the note without answering.

The teacher has almost finished her lesson, and I am super confused. Uh, that's what I get for paying attention to boys, a future bad grade on a test. I don't have any idea how to do our homework now. A feeling of resentment rises in my chest towards Jace. Well at least it isn't feelings of attraction.

The bell rings and I hurriedly gather my things and rush out of the room, only to smash into a solid wall of flesh. I fall back and before hitting the ground I feel a set of strong arms go around me and stop my fall from behind. I steady myself before looking up at the two tall boys on either side of my. Jace was the one who caught me, but at the moment I can't think about that. Oh man I am an idiot. I can't believe I had forgotten the news from yesterday already. Maybe I had dismissed it as a bad dream, but seeing Sebastian standing in front of me with one of those aggravating smiles on, I can barely take it.

"Sebastian", I manage to choke out.

"Hey lil sis. What perfect timing. I wanted to find you and tell you that we go to the same school now. I didn't know you had a boyfriend either", he finishes, while eyeing Jace.

"He's not my boyfriend"; I can't hide the malice from my tone," why did you switch schools?"

"Well you know my, mother incident", he says coolly.

I remember how his mom is dead, and it makes me shiver, at how calm he is talking about it. He seems totally unaffected. It makes me sick.

"Oh, umm…right, well welcome to the new school. I uh.., got to go," I mumble with a weak smile, and nearly hurl myself down the hallway. I can feel stares all around me, and it reminds me why I hate being popular so much. My life in the public's eye. Why am I so upset about Sebastian coming here? He hasn't done anything to me, but that look that is always in his eyes.

I have a sudden urge to just quit the popularity scheme, and go cry in the bathroom alone. I can't do that though. Showing my weakness to any of the new people in my life will just lead to disaster and misunderstanding later. Just calm down Clary, calm down, I tell myself.

The late bell for my next class, Art, rings. Quickly I look in the mirror, and smudge the makeup around my lips just the tiniest bit. It adds to the mystery and gives the allusion of me having kissed someone.

I run to the art room hoping to find refuge from all the drama that has already started making my life miserable, until I remember Jace is in my class. I strut in slowing so no one can tell I was running and notice Jace hasn't arrived yet either. I can tell people think he was the one who I was making out with in the hallway.

I apologize to my teacher and move to my seat in the back of the room by the window. A few moments later, Jace walks in. The first things I notice is that his lips are slightly swollen giving the effect of making it look like he was kissing someone. I nearly die of embarrassment.

People start putting the false two and two together and I have the urge to run and cry in the bathroom again. But I force it down, and smile as if I was expecting him. I groan inwardly, as I realize the only empty seat left is next to me.

He smirks and waltzes over to me, clearly noticing my smudged makeup. I have an uncontrollable urge to wipe away the makeup around my face, but as my hand rises I clench my fist and lightly drop it on the table. I have to wear it like this for the rest of the day or risk seeming unconfident which in the popularity world is everything.

He sits and starts to try a whisper conversation, starting from where we left off in math.

"Sooooo, why don't you have a boyfriend?" he asks

"You already asked that", I whisper back.

"I was sort of expecting an answer"

I begin my rant," why do you assume I have my choice of perfect handsome guys lined up for me? It's not that easy Jace"

"It is for me", he says frowning

"What? The line of boys", I say sarcastically

"No, no, you know what I mean."

Before I can doubt my answer it is already out of my mouth," the only reason you have girls lining up for you is because you happen to be exceptionally handsome", immediately I regret saying them. I clearly boosted his ego up a couple notches.

"You think I'm handsome?" he says raising an eyebrow.

"Damn it!" I say trying to move to the topic of the infuriating fact that he can raise an eyebrow.

"What you don't want to admit to my godly beauty?" he says raising his eyebrow once more.

"No, you idiot. You can raise an eyebrow. Can everyone on earth do that except for me.", I complain.

"Well I'm sure there are other short redheaded girls who are incapable of raising an eyebrow, but let's not sway from the subject. You think I am handsome?"

After punching him in the shoulder, I say," I am not short and I don't just think you are handsome, I know you are, and clearly you do too. I am speaking completely objectively here, but it is a known fact. That's why you have girls swooning over you."

He doesn't seem to have a response to that so I turn my head and continue sketching in my notebook.

The rest of the day goes by fairly uneventful. Izzy meets up with me after school so I can go over to her house, but before we leave, I notice a shimmer of gold and see Jace and Aline tightly embraced kissing passionately. My stomach lurches and I run into Izzy's car, slamming the door behind me.

Izzy by now has noticed as well and stepped into the drivers seat fuming. She clearly wants to leave so I ask her why we aren't going.

"We have to wait for Alec and the other one, to get here to give them a ride home." She doesn't even attempt to spit out Jace's name and I don't blame her. I am angry as hell, at him. I don't know why though. As I said to Aline this morning he doesn't belong to anyone, or I guess he didn't then, but now Aline has him on her leash.

Izzy and I both got texts simultaneously, easing my anger for the moment, and I looked down to see a message from Magnus. **I met a cute boy at your school today. I think he is new, and plus he has black hair and blue eyes! You know that is my favorite combination. Anyway I just wanted to tell you to come extra early tomorrow cause I don't have time for you tonight. We have our first date. Wish me luck.**

Cleary Magnus is talking about Alec. I want to laugh at myself. I didn't know Alec was gay, but then again he might not be. Magnus has been known to make unrealistic assumptions sometimes.

Izzy looks up at me and says," well Alec seems to have made a friend today also. He won't be joining us, so now all we have to do is wait for the idiot."

I decide not to tell Izzy about Alec until I am completely sure and I ask him about it.

The car door clicks for the side and Jace hops in, looking clearly satisfied. His smile fades when he see's our faces. "Speak of the devil, what do you think you were doing out there Jace", Izzy yells.

"What? Aren't you friends with Aline. She told me you had been trying to set us up during math and that was why you were acting so weird, Clary. Why are you guys mad at me?' the innocence in his voice just makes me more angry.

"JACE! Aline is bent on the destruction of Clary's social life and happiness. Just this morning she called Clary an 'annoyance' and tried to get me to join her pack of minions. How could you have kissed her?" Izzy defended me.

"What? I didn't know. She said you were all close friends. How was I supposed to know she was some crazy backstabber?" he said pathetically.

"well, you wouldn't have know but you don't go kissing someone after only knowing them for a couple hours, I mean seriously, kissing random strangers?", I say clearly annoyed.

Jace seems to sink back into his chair self consciously, "well she kissed me first, and I am not going to stop kissing a beautiful girl if she initiates it. That's just common sense", he argues feebly.

"Normal people don't do that Jace!" Izzy yells.

I can sort of tell he wasn't being honest. He was just trying to find an excuse that didn't make him look, like a bad person but he was failing miserably. I pang of guilt hit me in the chest and I say, "Okay, the past is the past. Calm down Izzy, and Jace, learn from your mistake. I don't feel like listening to this banter any longer. It's giving me a headache. Just put it in the past", both of them mutter faint apologies and we ride to there house in an awkward silence.

**Another chapter down, who knows how many more to go. Thanks for reading and please comment an outfit. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for not updating yesterday. I was busy. I am busy today too but I decided to write instead of doing the three hours of homework that awaits me now. For some reason I am really good at procrastinating. I am wondering if you guys are okay with curse words in my story because I don't want to offend anyone, but some of these conversations would be much more like actual high school conversations with them. Also I am planning on adding some much darker stuff in later chapters so be prepared. Read and review and enjoy **

After we arrived at Izzy's, Jace bolted out of the car, clearly fed up with the awkward situation. So were Izzy and I, but at least we didn't, childishly run away. I can't say I was unhappy to see him go. It was sort of a relief from this week. I am having enough problems and I don't need him to be another one, but with him gone I no longer can keep my mind off of Sebastian.

What's that look he always has in his eyes? It is really starting to creep me out. Plus he seems totally unaffected by his mom's death. I mean seriously, if my mom died I would be devastated. I can understand if he is bottling up his emotions cause I know that's how some people cope, but somehow that isn't the same. Or at least I don't think it's the same. He somehow seems content, that she's dead.

I am finally pulled out of my thoughts, when Izzy drags me into her home. Outside I wasn't really paying attention, and it was sort of a blur, clouded by my thoughts of Sebastian, but inside, the enormity of everything demanded to be seen. I gasp and Isabelle quietly laughs, but I ignore her.

"This is your house?" I say in awe.

"yuppies", Izzy says nonchalantly," usually our parents are out on business so we have the place to ourselves."

"Why is it so big?" I ask.

"Why not, we like to live in luxury." she responds airily.

"But I mean, how can you be a family with all this space, and what do you do when your home alone. It seems kinda scary."

"Well usually we have continents between us so we got used to it. What can I say? We learned to love each other from long distance and never changed. The scary part though is exactly right. When I am home alone I run straight to my room and lock the door. I mean think about it, a big house all alone, it even sounds creepy." she says.

"Hmm…"

"Hmm…"

"soooo…"

"Well that was a deep conversation we just had in your doorway." I say

"Yup, maybe we should go up to my room"

"Good idea", I say, thankful for a way out of yet another awkward situation.

Walking farther into Izzy's house after I got over the immensity of it, I can see similarities between this house and my dad's. I never liked big houses. Even with other people in them, they are scary. I never really feel at home in father's house, and when the house is empty I have the same protocol as Isabelle does. Run up the stairs and lock the door.

Looking at her house it has the usual expensive articles, like a big flat screen TV, computers all over the place, big beautiful couches that are probably more comfortable then my bed. I can see there sound system through a door and am not surprised to see huge speakers, and an Xbox. , along with a pile of games. I unconsciously start walking towards them, and when I can read out the tittles, I hear myself squeal.

"Oh, my, gosh, Izzy, you have Assassins Creed III, Halo 4, and Call of Duty Black ops? I just died then was resurrected so I could die again. These are the best games ever can we play? Please? Please? Please?" I notice myself jumping up and down as I fangirl my heart out.

Instead of Izzy's voice I hear a deep, recognizable one instead," Well you see, those are my personal games and my Xbox, so you would have to ask me politely. Also I don't just let anybody, play my video games, you have to be competitive, to play against me, so I am afraid you don't qualify." Jace said smirking at my unsettled face.

I notice Izzy is no where around. I guess that's what I get for trailing behind her then impulsively leaving. She probably still hasn't noticed I'm gone. I should probably be a good friend and go and find her but I can almost hear the games calling _Clary play me, please Clary; we can't take anymore of Jace's amateur gaming. We need you to kick his butt for us Clary, please. Help us, help us, help us, help…_

The poor games need me. "Jace, I can beat you any time anywhere at all three of these games. If you don't except my challenge then you're a wimp." I say in defense of his games.

Jace seems a bit taken aback before formulating words in response," I am the undefeated champion among my friends, and the worst of them, could beat you, but I must accept your offer, although I will give you the option of backing out now."

"Your on, prepare for your inevitable failure."

We started the first game.

**15 minutes later**

I can feel the huge smile playing out on my face. "I win", I say simply

Jace is staring at the screen probably rereading the caption

**Game over player 2 has won **

"B…but, that's not possible. You're a girl. I just lost to agirl**. **How is that even possible? Girls aren't even good at video games." he stutters.

"Uh, sexist much? Girls can be just as good, AND," I exaggerate," can be even better, like I just demonstrated."

I hear a faint murmur in the back round, and it gets louder. "Clary, come on, where did you go? I've been looking for ages. I swear if you are stealing my stuff we aren't going to be friends anymore. CLARY, COME OUT THIS INSTANT!" Izzy screams.

"Uh, Iz?" I murmur.

"What Clary? Is that you? Where are you?" she responds.

"I am, uh…in here", I call out to her.

"What the hell are you doing in Jace's game room? I've been looking all over for you." she says while she walks in.

I can tell when she notices Jace sitting on the couch staring blankly at the screen. Before I can respond to her, she continues," Jace, why are you being weirder then usual?"

"She beat me.", he whispers.

"She what?" Izzy says not understanding.

"Clary beat me, in fifteen minutes, at my best game. What the hell is happening to the world?" he speaks in monotone.

"Clary!?" Isabelle, jumps, you are the first person to ever beat Jace at Halo 4 ever. Thank you for forever ruining his pride." she continues in awe.

"Well, it wasn't really difficult, clearly you haven't played anyone decent, or you would have better skill." I say directed towards Jace.

"No skill! I have tons of skill." he screeches defensively.

"I have played with the creators of this game. Now they have some real skill." I respond purposely unexcited.

Jace looks at me and yells," How? Is that even possible?"

"Of course it is. When they were testing out Halo 4, my dad was doing business with the company, and I had come along." I leave out that my mom had been homeless at the time," to one of his meetings. I was wearing one of my games shirts and one of the guys noticed my shirt and was like 'do you like the game? and I was all like ' who doesn't but I guess I like anything that I am undefeated in' and he was like' I love seeing girls taking an interest in video games too' then one thing led to another and we were playing the Halo 4."

The look on Jace's face was priceless and I thought this was a good time to walk out of the room with Izzy. We walked up to her room and for the next couple of hours we talked and laughed without any interruption from Jace. Eventually I got a call from my dad who said he would be home late, and so I decided to sleep over at Isabelle's and head over to Magnus's in the morning.

We fell asleep around ten thirty which was pretty bad for a school night, especially when I have to get up at five thirty to go over to Magnus's, but neither of us cared and we fell asleep happy.

**Disclaimer: I totally forgot to tell everyone that I am not Cassandra Clare nor do I own any of the video games mentioned. The characters belong to not myself but I do in fact own this storyline. I always forget this but everyone just understand now so there won't be problems with me forgetting this in the future.**

**Thanks for reading. Please review. Even if it is only one word, I don't care. You can comment your favorite color if you want to. Just review. Btw my favorite color is green. **


	6. Chapter 6

**I updated again. Hurray! This may be the last time in a few days because I am doing a ton of afterschool volunteer work, but I still may find time to add a couple short chapters. I love all the review I have been getting, please keep it up, and enjoy. **

**Disclaimer: Haha, I remembered again. I am not Cassandra Clare nor will I ever be, and all the characters, unfortunately belong to her, not me. On a lighter note the story line is mine and no one else's so I will take the credit for that. **

I wake up, with the sun in my eyes. Squinting back the blinding light, I notice an alarm clock that reads 6:00 am to the side of me. Suddenly I realize where I am, and with blinding speed jump out of the bed and scream," IZZY! Get up now, I was supposed to be at my friend's house, 10 minutes ago!"

A groggy Izzy lifts her head up from beneath a tower of covers, to groan and say," Five more minutes, please."

"No, no way, I am going to be in big trouble and I need a ride. Hurry up. We can just leave in our pajamas, I'm sure he will have clothes for us there. Just please please please get up NOW." I beg.

Izzy's head jerks up," He?"

"Yes, my friend is a boy", I leave out that he is also quite gay. If it will get her out of the house I can withhold the information for a little bit longer.

"Ooh, is he cute? Is he your boyfriend?" she asks excitedly as she gets out of bed.

"Ya, he is pretty good looking, and has a great sense of style, but no he isn't my boyfriend. We are just friends like I am with Simon." , I know I should probably tell her that he is gay but, we are already heading towards the car, and I don't want any reason for her to go walking back in. I will just keep up this ruse until she see's him.

"Eeeeeeeeeeep!' Izzy squeals," I can't wait to meet him. Do I look okay?"

"Yes you look fine. Plus he has a ton of designer clothes at his house for us, so either way you will leave looking great.

Her smile broadens as we get into the car, pajamas and all, and drive off.

**10 minutes later**

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Magnus yells at us.

"We uh, overslept", I say sheepishly.

"Oh, come on. You only do this once a year. You could at least be on time. And have you even showered yet? Uhg, go get cleaned up. I will get your outfit ready, and maybe work on your friend for a bit."

I nod to Magnus, then glance over at Izzy, who has paled considerably. I guess now she knows the boy I was talking about is clearly gay. I feel Magnus staring daggers into my back so I decide it is best to do what he says. Izzy can deal with this on her own.

I take a quick shower and brush my hair out so Magnus won't have to. Then I leave the bathroom and hear voices coming down the hall. They both sound excited. Turning the corner I see Magnus and Izzy in a deep discussion with their backs turned away from me.

I start to catch part of their conversation, as I silently creep towards them. "Oh my gosh! I look great. Oh, and Clary is going to look even better. Magnus you are a genius." Izzy says excitedly.

"You are correct darling, on both counts, may I add.", Magnus brags," Now the question is," he continues," can we get her to wear it?"

"Well, it will probably be a struggle, but I think the two of us can overpower her if necessary." Izzy says much too calmly.

"Hey, I'm not a caged animal. Now what are you trying to get me to wear." I defend, while revealing myself from behind them.

Both of my friends jump, at how close I was behind them and I am about to make fun of them for it until I see what they plan on making me wear. My eyes widen and I try to run away but am too in shock.

"Clary, it really isn't that revealing. It will look great on you. Be reasonable." Izzy tells me in a pleading voice.

"I uh," I start to say but Magnus cuts me off.

"Listen, if I thought this was too much you wouldn't be wearing it and just because it shows your legs which you try so hard to cover and your back doesn't mean it is bad. Now you will be leaving in this outfit or your not leaving at all."

I want to defend myself but I know it is a losing battle. Plus this entire week makes me uncomfortable so what is one more day. I take a deep breath and let my anger out with it.

"Fine", I mumble

"WHAT!" Magnus exclaims. After seeing our faces he explains," I mean, I didn't think you would give in that easily. I thought there would most definitely be a fight. I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong, but I was just a smidge surprised. It was nothing really. Now let's get back to prepping you for the day. We don't have much time left."

After Magnus's interesting exchange of words, I gaze down at the torturous object before me. It is a violet T-shirt that has been cut into strips in the back that hang across like a ladder of loose cloth. The front of it is meant to be worn with one shoulder hanging off, showing too much skin for my liking. It is wearing rags that Magnus calls style.

The shirt is accompanied with tiny, worn out jean, shorts that reach just below my butt. They have three buttons going up all the way to my bellybutton, and have black translucent tights to go along with them.

Next to all of that mess, is a pair of 6 inch leather, black heels.

I'm going to die of embarrassment. Stupid "modern design". Is this what they teach at Fashion College now? How to make rags that can be possibly considered clothes.

Before I put on the outfit, Magnus and Izzy do my hair and makeup gushing over how "beautiful" they will make me. Ya right, I am not the beautiful type. I am more of a, not painful to look at but not impressive type. I am just normal, and I feel a little bad for them thinking that they can make me a different person.

Without looking in a mirror I walk to the bathroom, still avoiding my reflection, and put on the "clothes". It takes me a while to figure out which hole my head arms and torso go into the half shirt, but when I finally finish, I can't help, but gaze into the large mirror on the wall.

I gasp in surprise. My hair and makeup work together perfectly, along with my now gorgeous outfit. The shirt takes in at the sides making it look like I am much more curvy then actuality, the back shows only thin strips of my back, nothing too showy. My shoulder has never looked so good in my entire life. The tights cover enough of my skin for the shorts, not to look too short. Overall the outfit is flirty, and sexy, but not slutty.

It is perfect for me. I leave the bathroom smiling, and my friends tense, worried faces change into, looks of excitement. Izzy breaks the silence.

"So you like it?"

"Yes", I say confidently," it is perfect. I just didn't see it until I was wearing it, you know?"

"I totally get it. Now we have to get to school though." Izzy responds.

"Okay, bye then girls, Clary you are free to go, and Izzy please enjoy the new dress. You can keep it." Magnus says with a wink to both of us.

"Thanks so much", we say in unison, then we're out the door.

I notice Izzy is not longer in the teddy bear pajamas she was in this morning, and it has been replaced with a short violet dress, with a vintage feel to it, that matches my shirt.

When we are in the car I tell her "Izzy you look amazing."

"Thanks, while you were in the shower Magnus pulled it out of a closet, saying he thought he might have something that fits me. When I saw it I nearly screamed in excitement, and he said I could have it. We both look great. Everyone at school will be amazed", she says cheerfully.

"If I can even walk that far in these heels", I respond and we both laugh.

"It is kind of funny, Magnus said that my attire from this week was nature themed, but this isn't particularly nauturish. I guess he changed his mind." I continued.

"He could have decided on something else so I could still wear this dress. You never know, but all that is important right now, to me at least, is how great we both look", she says sweetly.

"Ya" I agree. We drive the rest of the way in silence until we reach school.

As we pull into the parking lot, Izzy see's Jace getting out of his car with Alec, and we pull into the spot beside them. We need to lecture Jace one more time on what he is to do, the next time he see's Aline. Izzy and I had planned this out the other night.

We gave him a script. _Aline, I must leave thee, for thou has disrupted the pack of the sisterhood among the innocent female students of this school and I cannot stay with someone so reckless with the rules of teenage girls and for the fact that you lied to me._

_You are hereby broken up with. _

Izzy and I are quite proud of it, and were dedicated in forcing him to memorize it. He said it was too ancient sounding and over the top, but really I don't see it that way. It is perfect. We opened the door and Izzy stepped out.

In an attempt to follow her I stumbled out only to be caught by a pair of strong arms. "Hey, short stuff, already falling, and school hasn't even started yet. I guess, to be a gentleman I must chaperone you for the rest of the day to save you from accidentally falling and killing yourself. Its what any good person would do."

"Sorry, Jace but I don't need your help", I say pushing out of his arms to stand on my own. I hear his quiet intake of breath when he see's all of me in my new outfit. His face is priceless. It is a mix of complete shock, to admiration, and maybe a little attraction. It boosts my confidence up a notch, and I say," Izzy, lets go, I don't want to be late."

"Sure" she responds and we walk away. I can feel the burn of not only Jace but all the other boys at school who have noticed me boring into my back. It kind of makes me happy and gives me the slightest hope that I might actually be pretty, not beautiful, but at least pretty.

This small satisfaction makes me sway my hips, a bit more catching the attention of all the people who hadn't been looking before. Izzy and I next to each other are like a Broadway show; brilliant.

**A review will make me a very happy person. If your review is like more then a sentence I will try to respond. I can't make any promises though. Thanks for reading. **


	7. Chapter 7

**I have been busy the past few days and have slowly been adding to this chapter. I have two essays due tomorrow but I forgot about that so I could get this finished. It has been a couple days but I plan on updating regularly. Please comment and enjoy **

My classes for the day went by in no time at all. At the end of the day, Izzy and I have gotten used to the constant eyes trialing us through the halls. Jace seemed to ignore me through both of our classes together, which was fine by me. I don't need him as a distraction. The final bell had wrung letting us out of class.

Izzy and I made our way over to her car. I walked around to the passenger side and was shocked into a short silence, until I started jumping up and down, and squealing. The black 71 Cadillac before me, was in beautiful condition. I run around the car, looking at it from all angles and basking in the amazing restoration. I was just starting to go into the history of the car, when someone walks up behind me.

"Hey, what are you doing to my car?" I hear a deep voice say.

I turn and see a tall, muscular, man with brown hair, standing at the back of the car clearly trying to get into, his gorgeous masterpiece, with some difficulty, I assume because I am standing in front of the driver side door.

Before I can even think of anything else I start gushing, and fangirling, (yes you can fangirl about cars. Boys, do it all the time) to him," This is your car? Oh MY GOSH! Did you do the restoration? It belongs in a museum. I love old cars. Do you have any others? Oh my gosh! This is awesome." I screech. Hopefully I am not scaring him, but unfortunately that ship, seems to have already sailed.

"Umm…." He tries to say, but Izzy cuts him off," I'm sorry, my friend just gets a little over excited by weird things. I mean just the other day she started jumping around at the video games my brother owns. We will just go now. You can ignore her. Nice car by the way."

"No, no, it's not a problem at all. I love it when young people take interest in different things. It is my car, and I did some restoration, but it only looks good on the outside, I have been having trouble getting it to start up immediately. It is kind of funny actually. There was another student who was excited over my car, and said they could help me out. It is pretty clear you are skilled in that area as well, so maybe you could come too." He said kindly.

"That would be wonderful, but I don't know who you are yet, so maybe introductions first before I go anywhere with you. Just a safety precaution you know?"

"Well, my name is Luke and I am a supervisor, of the school district. I was just visiting today, to check out some of the classes and see how they are treating the kids and how they like it here. I have noticed several things that could be changed, and I was just leaving to file the report. You can follow my car to the school district office, and they can verify that I am who I say I am."

"Well then we will follow!" I declare.

"Wait Clary no, I have homework. I can't drive you, come on, let's just get home. Stop causing trouble." Izzy cuts in.

I haven't even considered Izzy's ideas on the subject, I realize bitterly. I can understand why she wants to get home, but I really really, want to help with this car. I widen my eyes, puff my bottom lip out, and scrunch down to make myself seem smaller, before, whining," Please, Izzy, Just this once. Please, please, please, it would make me so happy, and then you would be the bestest friend in the entire universe."

My eyes begin to water for keeping them open this long, and she seems to mistake this with crying.

With a sigh she responds," fine, I will take you, but you have to stop with the guilt trip. It is getting to me."

In that instant, I am smiling, as wide as my face, and have my arms wrapped tightly around Izzy's torso. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. You _are_ the bestest friend ever", I squeal.

I hear someone clear their throat, and look up to see Luke awkwardly standing in front of us as many other students watch Izzy and my exchange. We disentangle ourselves from each other, and Luke asks," So, I've introduced myself, I think it is your turn."

"Oh, right, I am Clary Fray this is my friend Izzy Lightwood."

"Fray? Would your mother happen to be Jocelyn Fray?" he questions.

"Ya, do you know her?" I respond in surprise and curiosity.

"How funny, I do know her. We were close friends in college until she ran off and got married to I assume your father." Luke says excitedly, "Maybe I can get back in touch with her." He continues as a bit of an after thought.

"That would be really cool," I say excited to see how they knew each other," I would love to introduce you guys again, after I help you with your car, I can talk to her and help set something up."

"That would be great", he says.

We say quick goodbyes before Izzy and I retreat to her car and begin following him. I only begin to really think about me reintroducing Luke and my mom, during the drive, and realize, Luke still thinks my mom is living happily, and wealthily, with my dad. She might be embarrassed of where she is now. I start to doubt my decision about them seeing each other again. What if they had dated? It would be so terrible, if my mom saw that Luke had become successful while she had lost all the status she had grown up with. A wave of guilt crashed over me, as I gazed out the window. I have probably just created another problem for my mom who is already struggling.

She was barely able to hold onto her apartment, and she has been unemployed for the passed three months. I've been constantly staying longer at my dads for her sake, and Luke is probably another issue I just created. How do I tell him that he can't see her or what if she does want to see him?

My worrying was abruptly put to a halt, when the car stopped in front of a large office building. Alicante County School District it read. Luke hops out of his car, and leads the way into the office building.

After walking for a few minutes down near, identical, hallways, we reached a room with a small metal rectangle with the name Luke Garroway carved into it. "Well this is my office", he announced, while leading us inside.

The room was much larger then the usual offices you would see in movies, and was fairly tidy other then the few piles of scattered papers littering his desk. Along with the papers were, a few pictures, of what looked like him as a young kid with another young girl with red hair almost identical to my own, and a young version of my father staring stonily with a smirk contorting his face.

I gasp and walk to the picture, reaching to pick it up, before recoiling after realizing what I had intended to do without permission, and how rude it must have seemed. "May I look at this?" I ask quietly.

"Of course, those are your parents there next to me." Luke responded.

Towards the back of the picture stood six adults, each with a resemblance to one of the children. "Are those my grandparents, in the background?" I ask.

"Yes, they are, I knew them quite well actually." He replies kindly.

I had forgotten Izzy standing in the corner, until she cuts in," Um, Just how well did you know Clary's parents? Cause no offense but this is kind of creepy."

I am not surprised by Izzy's outburst. I've only known her for about two days, and yet I am already used to her bluntness. Brushing off the abruptness of the question, I look to Luke for an answer.

He chuckles kindly and replies," All of our parents were in the same business, so all three of us basically grew up together. Jocelyn and I were best friends, until college, when she ran off with Valentine. Since then we have lost touch, but growing up we always loved when we traveled here with our parents for business, so I am not surprised she ended up living here like I did."

This seems like a reasonable answer, but I will have to ask my mom about it. She and dad never really talk about there childhood and I've never asked so I guess it is possible that she never mentioned Luke.

He seems nice enough anyway. I will call her on the way to Luke's house.

Luke gathers some of the papers from his desk and starts collecting the things he had to pick up. I guess his profession wasn't a lie. He could still be a stocker though. I walk around the room and look at various community awards, addressed to Luke and some more high school pictures, where I can spot my mom dad and Luke.

One catches my eye. It is a two picture frame. On one side is a picture of just Luke and my mom, and the picture next to it is an exact replica of the photo but drawn with evident skill and technique that I only knew my mom to have. I guess they _were_ friends.

"Clary come here", Izzy calls.

I walk over only to see a giant wooden cupboard that was opened to reveal, not only an Xbox, but also a PS3, and stacks of games, on either side.

I gape, at the collection that put Jace and mine to shame. If Luke has this good taste in Cars and Video games, I don't care if he never even met my mom, he has my complete trust.

Izzy isn't quite so sure, "are you allowed to have video games at work? Like, aren't you supposed to do work, at work?" she says questioningly.

He looks up from gathering papers and says," I am my own boss, and why do you think I have so many papers I am taking home. I have found it helpful to get into the mindset of the average teenager or should I say, stay in the mindset of the average teenager to understand how to make schools better."

I feel my eyes widen in awe. He is like the god of teenagers, the best adult ever.

I blink back when I see fingers snapping in my face," Uh, Earth to Clary, I know Luke is a very cool adult but you don't have to drool." Izzy says

I take a very deep breath and say, "Okay, sorry, it's just you have this overpowering awesomeness, and it is getting in my head. You are like the god of teenagers. I hope that didn't sound weird, but seriously."

He smiles and says," you remind me a lot of Jocelyn. You both have quite an interesting way with words."

I feel my face scrunch up into a question mark. My mom never seemed high spirited, when she talked like, I recognize myself to be. I guess I can only remember her after her and dad's marriage had gone bad. The thought then pulls my face into a frown.

Both Izzy and Luke notice and ask in unison," what's wrong?"

"Oh I just never remember her talking like me, that's all". I say, trying to sound light.

"Well I haven't seen her in a long time, and people change I guess." Luke responds while his brow furrows.

An awkward silence ensues until it is broken by Izzy. "Well that conversation took a turn. How about we head over to Luke's, I don't want to be out too late, and something tells me you are gonna take more then a few minutes on the car."

"That's a good idea; the other student who volunteered to come is probably already there." Luke chimes in.

I smile and nod.

The car ride to Luke's house is quiet, until I decide to call my mom. She picks up on the third ring, "Hello? Clary, is everything alright?"

"Yes, mom, I am fine, but I wanted to ask you about someone named Luke Garroway"

"_Luke_," I hear a barely audible gasp through the phone before she continues," Yes, I know him, we are old friends. Now may I ask how do you know him?"

"Well we met in the school parking lot, when I was admiring his car. He has a 71 Cadillac. It is amazing and I am on my way to help him work on it, but he said you guys were friends growing up, so I thought I might ask."

"I see he still has that car then." She says with a smiley voice. "We were friends growing up, and we got out of touch a few years before you were born."

"that's cool I guess, he was also wondering if you wanted to meet up with him, and maybe get back in touch, but I wasn't sure, so I am asking." I say

"Yes!" my moms yells then gains her composure," I mean, I would love that if he wanted to."

"Okay, I will tell him then", I respond excited.

"Alright then honey, I'll see you later"

"Love you, mom"

"Love you too, bye"

"Bye"

The phone goes dead and I look up at Izzy who is clearly curious. "She does know him, and wants to see him again." I tell her.

"That's awesome." She says and then her face grows serious," Why were you upset, in Luke's office then?"

I feel my smile fade into a small frown. I have only known her for two days, and some of my other friends who I have known for years don't know. I can trust her though, I think.

She see's my hesitant look and says," Clary, if I tell you something almost no one knows about me, will you tell me what's been bothering you?"

I look at her and can tell she is being sincere," Yes, Izzy you can trust me." I say

"Well, right before we moved from New York, I caught my dad cheating on my mom with one of his coworkers and I had just come back from a party and I was drunk, so the next day when I confronted him about it he said I was just seeing things, and I knew what I had seen but didn't tell my mom, and now we moved here so he isn't cheating anymore I don't think, but I feel so guilty, but I don't want to ruin my parents marriage.", she took a deep breath, and I could see tears running down the sides of her face.

"Your turn" she said weakly.

"Izzy, I…"

"Stop" she cuts me off," just tell me why you were upset"

I swallow back tears and start," My parents got divorced when I was young because my dad was cheating on my mom, but my dad took all my moms money and left her poor, and alone on the streets, so no she is in a ratty old apartment and my dad is living large. Then last week I was staying at my dad's house and found out he has another son who is older then me that he had with one of the woman he was cheating on my mom with, and that's Sebastian. He started going to our school this week too, but I think he is crazy cause his mom died and he doesn't even care and…" I choke and my body is now racking with sobs. I rarely ever tell this story, and I try not to let myself remember the late night fights, or the look in Sebastian's eyes when he talks about his mom, but all this bottled unhappiness, is falling out of my like rain and it won't stop. I take a breath and continue," Now I don't know how to tell Luke that my mom isn't happy anymore. She is always sad, and I can't do anything about it."

By now we had reached Luke's house and he was looking at us through the windshield curiously. Both Izzy and I notice so we duck down, and make sure our make up didn't run, before looking up and smiling.

"I understand", Izzy whispers as we exit the car, but before I can respond, I met with an evil smirk coming from someone's face who I know all to well after two days.

"This is Jace. He is the one who was going to help us on my car." Luke says.

"Oh, we have met", he says a grin spreading on his face.

I squint my eyes at him, "You can't leave me alone, can you Jace? Stocking isn't very kind may I remind you."

His smile widens and he says," Well hello to you too, Clary"

**And that is it. I don't like this chapter but the stuff I am waiting to write about needs to happen towards the end of the week, so this one and the next few will be fillers, that sort of contribute to the plot. Please review. **


	8. Chapter 8

**This is a short chapter, but I only have so much time, and it is a school night. I wrote this quickly and didn't spend much time editing it so don't judge me too much on this chapter. As I keep saying the action with come at the end of Clary's week so just be patient. Now enjoy.**

I can feel Luke's eyes on Jace and me as we glare, at each other.

"Is there a problem?", he asks.

"No", Jace and I say in perfect unison. Then we look at each other again, to continue our glaring.

"Well okay then, I guess", Luke says while scratching the back of his head.

Izzy comes in, to give a more detailed answer then Jace or I provided. "Well you see, Jace is my brother, and at the moment we aren't on great terms because he got caught up with one of our schools mean girls."

"Oh, I see", a look of realization passes over Luke's face and he suggests," If you guys don't want to work together, I could get one of you to come back tomorrow and we could stagger the work."

"That will work for me as long as I get to go first", Jace says.

"No. Freaking. Way", I say my voice never wavering as I pronounce each syllable clearly.

"Well then I guess we will just have to work together", He responds his smirk faltering the tiniest bit into an angry frown.

"Fine", I respond coolly.

I turn my head just in time to catch Izzy and Luke sharing a look. They are probably thinking that I can't work with Jace. They are probably right too. I am not going to work with him. I'm going to stun him with my immense knowledge of cars until he is so ashamed of limited car intellect that he will have to flee from the premise.

It shouldn't take that long. I grew up hanging around my friend Simon's, Dad's car shop, and I would be lying if I said I hadn't picked up a few things. Heck, I would be lying if I said I only picked up a few things. From the time I was 7 until now I have been helping Simon to fix up the old cars his dad brought in. I realize I am very tom boyish, but if more girls grew up with this stuff I am sure they wouldn't be hanging around malls and getting manicures all the time. Although a good manicure once in a while is wonderful.

My mind is still wandering when Luke opens his garage and reveals a beautiful assortment of car materials, and old anime posters. Did I mention that Luke is the god of all teenagers? I think I did, but I am going to again just to clarify. Luke is the god of all teenagers.

I clear my mind of all my girly thoughts, and ask him to pop the hood of the car and we take a look inside. Jace tries to get in front of me, but I shove past him and look at the inside of the car. I don't immediately see anything wrong, and I ask Luke if he is sure it just hasn't been overheating like many old cars do.

"I'm not sure. I have had this car for ages, but I never learned how to fix it up. Over the years I have made several different friends who I rely on, to keep it in shape. Unfortunately I recently moved here from another school district so I don't know anybody. Is there any way you can check?"

"I think I could tell more easily what is wrong if you turn the car on."

"Sure, one sec", he says and leaves to go start the engine.

I feel a shove, and Jace steps in front of me looking at the car. His face is a mixture of surprise, and annoyance. I assume he is surprised and annoyed at the accuracy of my original car diagnosis. By now Luke is in his car and is about to start the engine and I quickly tell Jace," Stand back, we don't know what will happen when the car starts."

"I can handle myself", he says back menacingly.

Luke turns the key and the car starts making rattling sounds, and then in a quick flash, the car lets out a large crashing noise and smoke starts seeping out of the engine, clouding my vision.

"Damn it! Ow, ow, ow, that hurt", Jace whines.

We all back away from the car, and Luke comes around to our group. "Well, that's never happened before", Luke says.

"I would hope not, your engine just blew up", I respond in a half sarcastic tone.

Luke's brow furrows and I see he is upset, but for a moment my eyes catch something red through the thick smoke, and as it clears away I see Jace, with a thin streak of blood running from his forehead. His entire front is covered in a thin black layer of smoke residue. "So that's what you were wailing about", I say nonchalantly trying not to show my evident concern.

"Ya, um, I could ah…use some help", he mutters quietly, clearly embarrassed.

"Oh, okay", I say trying to maintain my carefree attitude," Luke you will have to wait a few minutes while I fix Jace's face. I am truly sorry for the inconvenience", I purposely look at Jace meaningfully on the last bit. "I did tell you to back up though. Maybe next time you should listen to directions."

He seems to be growing unhappier by the minute. I walk over to my back pack and thank myself for keeping a small first aid kit in my bag at all times. Then I lead Jace to the steps of Luke's front porch and sit him down.

I can almost feel his anger and humiliation coming off him in waves. I am sure he isn't used to doing embarrassing things. I feel a small indent of guilt come over me, for making Jace feel the same way I feel almost every week of the year except this one. I abandon those thoughts when Jace cleans his face of all emotion and says," Do you have a little nurse outfit to go along with the first aid kit because I think we would all find this more interesting if a certain someone were wearing it?." He winks at me.

Anger boils away all the other emotions I was having before and I snap back," I don't have a nurse outfit but I do have a fairy one from a couple of years ago. I am not sure it would fit you. Maybe you should start dressing as a guy. I am sure they are more likely to have clothes in your sizes."

Realizing how I turned his words against him, wisely he shuts up. I pull out tweezers from my kit and begin to pull out a tiny piece of debris that has imbedded itself in his forehead. Following various exclamations of pain from Jace, the tiny bit of metal is out and after applying disinfectant, I put a band aid gently on his face.

I glance down for a moment, and catch his eyes. Immediately I realize how close our faces are, and that my hands are still smoothing the band aid on his head. For a moment I am completely lost in his face, until my common sense finds a place in my mind and causes me to abruptly pull away. My hands tingle from the lack of contact, and I smile," All better", before walking back to Izzy and Luke.

**I will try to update soon, but I am not sure when. I chose to have a busy life and now I have to make priorities and sadly fanfiction isn't a top priority. I still plan to update this week though. Please review. I don't care if it is nice or mean. You can review whatever you want. Thanks for reading. **


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter is full of car terms that I don't even understand but I am using the confusing terms just to emphasize the fact that Clary knows about cars. My brother has the same car, and the same thing happened to it and he told me all about it so that is the extent of my car knowledge, but I am learning. Simon shows up for like the first time and in this chapter all the action sort of gets set in place so be prepared. Now read. **

My hands were still burning from the close proximity to Jace, as I walked over the Luke and Izzy. Then engine seemed to have stopped smoking, but I'm sure there is quite a bit of damage.

"Since the car seems to have cooled down a bit I think I am going to take a look, at the engine and do a few tests. It's going to take a while so Iz if you want to leave I can get my mom to pick me up later", I say to Luke and Izzy.

Luke's face seems to rise a bit at the mention of my mom coming. I probably should have gotten my dad to come, but recently he has been acting uninterested in me and I don't like the idea of an awkward car ride in silence. Luke looks eager for Izzy to leave so he can see my mom. I silently hope she stay's so I don't have give my mom even more things to worry about. "I think I'll stick around", Izzy says," I am a little curious to see your mad car skills in action."

I feel a wave of relief wash over me, as Luke's face falters only the slightest before he pulls it back into a warm smile. He is surprisingly calm considering his car is probably out of commission for the next few days. I feel Izzy and now Jace's gazes on me from a distance. I glance over quickly at them and am able to catch the skeptical looks they had on me that they are now expertly hiding.

"Okay, thanks Iz", I respond before walking over to the car.

The immediate problem isn't very clear so I decide to test the engine a bit. Right before I am about to reach into the car, I look at my recently manicured nails and sigh. I don't really care about ruining the nails per say. I am just afraid of the wrath of Magnus if I do ruin them. I am not going to purposely get yelled at, so I call to Jace.

He jogs over, seemingly better from his previous injury, and asks, "What's up?"

"Well you see, I am not in the greatest clothing to be working with the car, so how about I give you instructions and you follow them exactly?" I say in an overly sweet voice I use to pretend I am talking to a child.

He looks at me as if I have hurt his pride and says, "Why should I listen to you? I am perfectly capable of fixing this car on my own."

I role my eyes and respond sourly, "And look how well that turned out last time."

He seems not to have any immediate response, so before he can form one I cut in, "So my way it is."

Jace sighs in defeat and decides to turn this into a game. "What's the first order boss?" He pulls his hand up to his forehead as if to solute me but when his hand hits his injured head he winces and I laugh.

Deciding to play along, "Pull out the spark plugs and hoses from the engine", I say in my best military sounding voice.

"Aye, aye, captain", He responds jokingly.

"Awe, you ruined it. You were supposed to say, 'Sir Yes Sir'", I scold him.

Realizing that our sarcastic conversation is already over he decides to question my judgment. "Why do you want me to pull out the spark plugs and hoses?"

"Don't question me. I have a plan. Just do it."

He decides to comply reluctantly. Probably afraid something will hit him in the head again. I just shake my head as I watch him do it. He has the funniest expression on and I start to smile. It is a cross between embarrassment, defeat, and confusion. He probably never feels defeated or embarrassed. No wonder he is confused. I chuckle quietly at my mastery of lessening Jace Lightwood's ego.

I hear a soft murmur of voices and see Izzy and Luke deep in discussion about something. Before I can see what they are talking about I hear Jace say, "I'm done. What's next?"

"Okay great", I say enthusiastically. I'm surprised he actually knows what I meant. "Now we just have to hardwire the starter motor, and see if we can crank the Flywheel."

He groans at the work I've assigned him and I turn and focus on Luke and Izzy's conversation. "Well, it is his tenth birthday and I need him to love the present. I got him in trouble with my mom for staying up late reading manga with a flashlight, after he messed with some of my stuff and now I need him to like me again", Izzy explains.

She must be talking about her younger brother Max. I remember how angry Simon was when I accidentally let it slip to his mom that he had a secret stash of manga under his bed. I smile at the thought and listen to Luke's response.

"Well for a kid who is 9 and already staying up late reading manga, I suggest you buy him manga. What does he usually read?" Luke asks.

"Um, Inu- something, Death Note I think, and that one with the ninjas", Izzy tries to explain.

"Okay so, Inuyasha, Death Note, and Naruto. He has good taste", Luke responds kindly," I think you could buy him any of those, you just have to know how caught up he is in them."

I can't keep eavesdropping, so casually I mention, "I know this place called Forbidden Planet that you can buy manga from, but I think he might like it best if you just take him to the store. It is amazing for kids, and I'm sure he would get excited about it."

I think back to Simon when he was ten and first found Forbidden Planet. He went to the store every day for two weeks after he discovered it.

Izzy brushes off the fact that I was listening to her conversation and says, "that's sounds great but only if you come with me. I have no idea what you do in a manga store."

"Sure!" I exclaim excitedly.

Izzy turns back to Luke and they start talking again so I focus my attention back on Jace. He has just begun trying to crank the Flywheel. Removing the spark plugs and hoses should have loosened the crank, but clearly from Jace's effort his attempts weren't working.

"Clary, it isn't working", Jace says, "My best guess is that the Main Barring seized."

Oh, so he does have some car insight. "I am surprised. You actually do know something about cars." I say sarcastically, "You know the only way to fix that is to remove, dismantle, and replace most of the internal engine?"

Jace groans loudly. "This is going to take a long time and we need new parts to replace the old ones. It will be forever until we find the right parts and it's a school night."

"I finished all my homework at school so I got time my friend, and I have also got the right car parts, so you aren't leaving", I say strictly in a voice that says, _don't you dare question me_.

I can see the come back die on his lips when he reads my dead serious expression. I fight the urge to smirk and say, "I will be right back and then we will have our car parts."

The skeptical look shows again on his face, as I walk away to call Simon. Luckily we had worked on a car with this same engine before and gotten all the parts, before the person decided they couldn't afford to pay for the maintenance and just left the car in their garage as an antique. He picks up on the first ring.

"Hey Clary, What's up", Simon says curiously. We rarely ever called. Mainly we would just text, talk at school, or hang out after school, so this call is unordinary.

"Well, I happened to run into this guy with a 71 Cadillac, and he said he needed help with his car, and then he was like oh your mom and I are friends, and then Izzy and I came and found out Jace, the new boy, had asked to help out too, and then the engine blew up and we need car parts, so come now!" I yell barely coherently through the phone.

"Whoa, slow down Clary, you need the car parts, to the Cadillac we worked on?" he says agonizingly slowly.

"Yes!" I screech jumping up and down a bit, to release some of my excess energy.

"What's the address?" he asks.

I pull my head from the phone and ask Luke what the address is. "It is 1414 Doctor St." he calls to me.

"1414 DOCTOR ST.!" I yell into the phone.

"Okay", he says seriously as if he is accepting a top secret mission, "I am on my way."

I have a moment of happiness at the fact that I have a friend who isn't perturbed when I go to a stranger's house to fix his car, and acts insanely excited when I tell him I need him to immediately drive over with random car parts.

I turn and three amused and confused looking face's watch me. "What was that?" Jace asks me.

"He is a he not a 'that' and he is also my best friend Simon, who you met at lunch today and yesterday." I say rhetorically back to Jace.

Jace's smirk falters slightly at my mention of a "him". "He is actually on his way now with car parts", I continue acting calmly and surprisingly different then how I was on the phone.

I look Jace in the eyes, then meaningfully at the car. He gets the message and with a small sigh begins disassembling the engine.

A few minutes later Simon arrives with the Car parts and after a quick exchange of words and sarcastic remarks from Jace, Simon too is working on the car. I know this part will take a while so I go over to Izzy and notice her staring at Simon. When she notices that I am near her she asks, "Is that the same Simon you introduced to me at school? He looks so different."

I nod to her and reply, "He tries not to be noticed at school, but outside of school he wears contacts and what he thinks is 'impressive' clothing which I find uncomfortable."

I watch her gaze drift slowing up and down his body. He is fairly fit from working on cars all the time and lifting everything for me, because of my unfortunate height predicament. I can tell that Izzy is reluctant to ask me if she can date him. She is clearly someone who he would be interested in. "You should ask him out", I tell her.

She seems taken aback at my bluntness, but recovers quickly and says, "Do you think he would like me?"

"Of course Izzy, any guy would be ecstatic to have the privilege of going on a date with you", I say trying to boost her spirits. Simon really could use a girlfriend and Izzy is awesome.

"I'll ask him after they finish working on the car", she responds.

It is already starting to get dark and we call it quits for the day and agree to come back tomorrow after school. Before Izzy takes me home I see her pull Simon a little way's from the rest of us and when they come back Izzy is smiling and Simon blushing.

I get excited, and Izzy and I gossip on the way home about Simon and her date, and Max's birthday and all the other meaningless things happening in our lives until she drops me at my dad's house and I walk in.

Surprisingly the lights are all on, and I walk further in, to find Sebastian and Dad talking in hushed voices quickly.

"Hey", I say weakly alerting them of my presence.

"Hey, little sister", Sebastian sneers, "Where have you been? It's late and it's a school night."

Realizing that he should probably be the one lecturing me, Dad looks at me and says, "Yes, I would like to know of your whereabouts as well and would you please explain the outfit you are wearing."

"I was helping out this guy named Luke Garraway fix up his old Cadillac, with some of my friends from school, and we lost track of time. I was planning on going again tomorrow to finish fixing it. The clothes are just borrowed from a friend of mine", I speak, with a slightly shaky voice. The mention of Luke's name seems to anger him.

"What friends, Clarissa?" Sebastian interrogates me, "Your boyfriend, what's his name, Jace?"

"Boyfriend?!" my father stutters.

"No dad it isn't like that, he is not my boyfriend we were just working on a car", I try to explain.

"So you admit to being with a boy and a stranger at this time of night", dad yells outraged.

"No, I mean yes, but there were other people around, I was just helping, I didn't do anything", I stutter again on the verge of tears.

Sebastian seems to be egging on my dad. "I saw her in his arms at school yesterday. She is probably dressing this way to impress him."

"No that's not…",I try to say but it is too late.

My dad's anger seems to boil over, and he runs up to me and slaps me hard against my face. My head whips to the side and I feel the impact. Looking at the floor I feel a sob rise in my throat and the threatening tears spill over. My dad has never hit me, nor has he ever been this angry.

I start to back away still looking at the floor, until I feel a strong set of arms grab me by the elbow. I look up and my dad seems distraught. "Don't worry, I can take care of her", Sebastian assures my dad and then hauls me up the stairs. Instead of sounding caring as he was trying to, he sounded menacing like those old movie character villains.

He drags me to my room and pushes me against the door by my throat. His lips brush my ear, and whispers, "I suggest you start listening to me Clarissa because soon I will be Valentines favorite child, and you will be in my complete control."

He lets me go and I drop to the floor, gasping and sobbing silently as he walks slowly and carelessly down the hall.

**Tell me how I should continue the story. I love comments. Another update should be coming soon, but tomorrow I am decorating a fake Egyptian mummy with my friends tomorrow. His name is Finnick like from the Hunger Games but we are dressing him up like Magnus. I will take suggestions on how to decorate my mummy also. I may still update tomorrow though, we will see. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for not updating for a few days. I hope to get back onto a schedule but I can't make any promises. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Mortal Instruments. They belong to Cassandra Clare. I feel really stupid because I accidentally said that they were owned by Clarissa Clare which as we all know is incorrect. All the names are just too similar. Also did you know Cassandra Clare is a pen name? Her actual name is Judith Rumelt. Anyway, the story line is mine, they are just her characters. **

I carried over the last few of my clothes and placed them gently in the suitcase on my bed. I had stopped crying a while ago but my eyes are still wet from tears and my cheek still stings from by dad's harsh slap. I zip up the suitcase and move to the bathroom to try and apply some makeup. My face in the mirror makes me want to cry again. There is a handprint on my face blossoming into a large bruise and my neck is swollen from Sebastian's hands.

I shiver at the memory and try to push it towards the ends of my mind. The harder I try forget the more I remember his harsh words, and cold eyes. I silently let a sob escape me, and push down my tears before I sob again. I begin wiping makeup all over my face thickly.

I can no longer see the bruise but my cheek is still swollen making it look like I am chewing a piece of gum that is shoved into the side of my mouth. Looking at my neck I don't even bother. No amount of makeup will hide the ugly bruises and swelling. I walk back into my room and find a long sleeve turtle neck. If I crane my neck you can catch glimpses of blue, so I tug my head down.

This will have to be enough. I clear my throat loudly trying to chase the crying from my voice and call Izzy.

She picks up almost immediately and says, "Hey, do you miss me so much that you find it necessary to call 45 minutes after I drop you off?"

"No, it's not that. Remember out conversation about big scary houses? Well my dad and brother are out of the house and won't be home till way later and I was wondering if maybe I could sleep over again?" I speak in my most cheerful voice.

"If it was anyone else I would say no, but you do sound scared and I understand. Of course you can come over. Do you need a ride?" she offers.

A sense of relief that seems impossible washes over me. I thought that if this day could get worse it would but at least Izzy still seems to like me, even if my dad doesn't. I think about having to wait in the house for another 15 minutes as she comes, and shudder violently. "If you could pick me up at the coffee place down the street from my dad's house that would be great. I really want to get out of the house", I say as casually as I can.

"Sure, I am leaving now"

"Thank you, Izzy, you're a great friend", I feel the falseness in my trying, happy voice and she can probably tell, but I hope she just thinks that it's just fear of being alone. I want to tell her that I would much rather be alone then be in a house with two untrustworthy men and I decide to unload on her the events of tonight but not over the phone. We say quick goodbyes and hang up.

I carefully held my breath, and wait until my eyes stopped burning to open the door and tiptoe down the steps.

Memories of Sebastian pulling me up the stairs by my hair overwhelmed me and I stumbled, just loud enough to alert the attention of someone in a room downstairs. Once I caught a glimpse of white hair, I am running down the stairs and yank open the door. Then two sets of footsteps could be heard hot on my tail.

One was of my dad yelling, "I'm sorry Clarissa, come back, I lost my temper" and the other was from Sebastian screaming profanities and warnings at me One caught my attention. "If you tell anyone, they are in as much trouble as you are."

For a second I want to go back and believe my dad who had, I thought, loved me for so many years, and to protect my friends from Sebastian's rein of terror. Then I push the thought from my mind. If I ever go back I can never leave and that would be far worse.

Sprinting at my top speed I reach the coffee place and take refuge in the warm room filled with the scents of so many different coffees. I silently thank the place for having 24/7 service. Finding a small couch I make myself comfortable, and wait for Izzy's arrival.

Now that I can't tell her the truth, I try to think up an alibi for any possible questions she might ask. After a few minutes I have a story that doesn't seem to have any loose ends.

Sebastian is out late at the Club Pandemonium that Izzy is too young to get into, and my dad is in a meeting over the phone at work with some people from overseas who are in a different time zone. I carefully placed a piece of gum in my mouth to make my cheek swelling unnoticeable. Biting down on the gum is like someone stabbing a needle into my cheek over and over, but I know it is necessary and I keep going. I have an entire suitcase because I am going back to my moms tomorrow and I am bringing some stuff.

Truthfully I am going to my moms tomorrow but I have my own clothes there I just don't plan on going back to my dads house. I'm so caught up in the plan that Izzy is standing directly in front of me before I notice she is there.

"Ready to go?" she says slightly exhausted but still cheerful.

Nervously I say, "Yes", and tell her my whole alibi. I can tell she is skeptical. Thankfully she doesn't press the matter any further and we drive to her house. We are both tired so once we get there neither of us bother to talk, and we just fall asleep.

**Several hours later **

I wake up to a persistent throbbing in my face and neck. Pushing the memories from last night out of my head I look to see Izzy is still asleep. My stomach rumbles noisily and I realize I haven't eaten anything since lunch yesterday. It is still a bit early to wake up Izzy so I head downstairs on my own and towards the kitchen.

I hear someone else in there and am about to walk in, when I see my reflection in a mirror hanging in the hallway. My makeup has rubbed off over night and my bruise is apparent both on my face and on my neck where my turtle neck is pulled down. I look like hell.

The person in the kitchen seems to have heard me and I try to hide but everything is in perfect view from the kitchen door.

"Izzy?" a voice calls and in one more attempt to back away, I see a small boy round the corner. His eyes widen when they land on me, and he gasps. "Who are you?"

"I'm Clary, one of Izzy's new friends. We had a sleep over", I try to explain.

"I'm Max, her younger brother. So you're the Clary, Jace and Izzy have been talking about. What happened to your face?" he says with bluntness similar to Izzy's.

"Oh nothing", I start, "I am just clumsy."

"Really?" he sounds unsure, "Jace says you're graceful."

I blush and reply, "Did Jace put you up to this?"

"No, he just tells me everything."

Kind of like a pet, I think. Some people tell everything to their dogs or cats, but Jace confides in a soon to be ten year old boy. It seems so unlike him to give up all his, I assume, secrets to someone who so willingly tells them. Usually Jace is more careful then that.

I laugh.

"Hey don't laugh at me", Max says.

"I'm not laughing at you; I just think it is silly that Jace would say something like that." I shake my head, and notice he is carrying a book in his hand, "What are you reading?"

"I'm trying to read Naruto, but I keep forgetting what direction to read it in."

"I have that problem all the time, until my friend Simon helped me out. I have a cheat code and I can give it to you." I say smiling. Somehow Max can just lift your mood.

"You do?! Please show me." He pleads.

"Okay one sec, do you have piece of paper and something I can write with?"

He nods and heads over to a desk then comes back with some paper and a pencil.

"Here you go", he says.

I take the paper and begin to draw a common pattern of boxes that you normally see in manga. Then I number them all on what order you read them in. when I hand the paper back to him I say, "Whenever you forget the direction to read just look at the paper and see the numbers. I have been using this method for years."

He jumps up and down saying, "Thank you" over and over again. I can tell he wants to go and use it so I say, "I need to get ready and you should probably go put that in a safe place."

He nods and shuffles out of the room.

I head up stairs to get ready.

**Jace's POV**

I am woken up to Max jumping on my bed and shaking me.

"What is your excuse for waking me up this early I have another 20 minutes of sleep that you just ruined", I rant while glaring at my alarm clock. I'm still exhausted from staying at Pandemonium yesterday.

His smile doesn't falter. "Look what Clary gave me. Now I can read my manga correctly."

I perk up at the sound of Clary's name. "When did you see Clary?" I ask him.

"She stayed the night and I saw her this morning", he says waving a piece of paper proudly in his hand. It resembled the inside of one of Max's books.

"What did she say?" I ask pathetically curious. She shouldn't influence me this much.

"She said that she had trouble reading manga too so she gave me this." He shoves the paper closer to my face.

"Did she say anything else", I pry, mumbling through the paper.

"Well she said it was silly that you thought she was graceful because she is clumsy and that is why she has so many bruises." He says casually while my mind starts to race.

"What bruises?" I ask.

"You must have noticed them her face is all swollen and so is her neck, it isn't something you would miss." He says as if I am the one sounding crazy.

"Are you sure it wasn't old makeup?" I ask desperately hoping what he is saying isn't true.

"I'm pretty sure", he says, finally losing the excitement and replacing it with curiosity.

I jump out of bed and bolt towards Izzy's bedroom where the door is hanging open. I can hear muffled voices. I push open the door and see Izzy and Clary sitting on the floor looking completely normal. What was Max talking about? Clary's face does seem a little misshapen but, I don't have time to make sure before Izzy yells, "Don't you know any manners?" and pushes me out the door.

**Thanks to people who sent me suggestions. I am trying to incorporate them all. Keep the reviews coming. I am super excited because I now have over 100 followers. You guys are awesome. **


	11. Chapter 11

**I am not even going to try and give you an excuse for such a late update. Just read.**

Jace backs out of the room apologetically, and closes the door behind him. "Well, that was weird", I say curiously.

"I know right. I swear that boy has no manners. We were raised by the same people for the most part. How could Jace turn out so terrible and I turn out to be so amazing?" Izzy ponders curiously.

"Some questions will baffle scientists for all of eternity", I say trying to match her peppy, laid back, attitude.

"That is correct, my dear friend. Now we should probably leave for Magnus's house before we get yelled at", Izzy inquires.

I nod and we head out the door.

The car ride is fairly silent other then the soft purr of the engine and the soothing morning radio. When we pull up to Magnus's house Izzy lets out an audible gasp. "Oh my gosh! Is that Alec's car?"

I look over and even though I haven't ever seen Alec's car, the one in front of us fits the Lightwood profile of, expensive. Izzy jumps out of the car only to confirm her previous assumptions.

Before I am halfway up the stairs to my friend's door, Izzy is already knocking violently. I hear a set of voices through the door. "Darling, would you get the door please, my hands are full", Magnus calls.

"Sure", Alec I assume, mumbles in a barely recognizable whisper. He pulls open the door while his eyes widen noticeably. "Uh, uh", he stutters.

"ALEXANDER LIGHTWOOD WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Izzy screams, probably waking the neighboring apartment buildings.

Alec clearly is at a loss for words so Magnus cuts in, "We watched movies until late yesterday and it didn't make any sense for him to leave so I let him sleep over."

"You didn't tell me they were coming", Alec says, sounding betrayed.

Izzy pushes her way past Alec and looks around the apartment making sure nothing happened that didn't fit the alibi. When she was satisfied she said, "that doesn't matter. Alec, the fact that you are gay makes me adverse to you sleeping over at older men's houses, alone, and without permission."

Alec blushes deeply, and finally decides to say something in his defense, "Izzy, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Now do you see me yelling at you for 'sleeping over'", he says in air quotes, "at your boyfriend's houses? No," he answers his own question.

Now it's Izzy's turn to blush and Magnus just laughs. "Now that this misunderstanding is all over, it is time to get all three of you ready", he says.

"Three?" Alec chokes out.

"Well of course, all of you must look your best. This is _the week_", Magnus responds simply, and Alec seems to realize the more questions he asks the more questions there will be so he just gives up.

After several long minutes of getting ready, all three of us are ready to go. Magnus let me get away with doing my own makeup, but insisted on doing touch ups. It was brutally painful when he added things to the side of my face, so I bit down on my tongue and refused to flinch.

It only dawned on me, the difficulty of hiding from Sebastian when we pulled into the school parking lot and I saw his car. It sent a shiver through me and I had a sudden urge to throw up, but I couldn't or my popular, heir would be lost.

As I walked out of the car I sucked on the inside of my cheek, which hurt like hell, but at least reduced my face to a once again circular shape instead of an ugly oval. I tried to smile, though it proved to be much too difficult and settled for a blank expression. After several deep breaths I was on my way to my first class.

Avoiding Sebastian would be impossible with all the attention I was attracting so I asked Izzy, "You know, my brother Sebastian, the one I told you about yesterday?", she only nodded so I continued, "I am trying to avoid him at the moment, because we are in the middle of a fight so if you could help me keep him away, that would be great." I say trying to stay smiley.

"Of course, I know what it's like to have brothers. No problem", she says unquestioningly and I thank myself for making such a great friend.

The first time I see Sebastian is after, my first class when I am walking in the halls with Izzy. I noticeably flinch but she is too busy glaring at him to notice. I quickly rush past him, and hope he doesn't think I told her. I really don't need myself and my friends in danger right now. The rest of the day goes smoothly until I am leaving math with Jace following closely behind. I had succeeded in ignoring him all class and was basking alone in my victory giving him the silent treatment.

Sebastian is waiting at the door again. I guess he has the class right across the hall. With great difficulty I try to push past him, but he grabs my elbow harshly and leads me towards the library. The library is always empty this time of day, because our librarian only works part time, and even though no one ever goes in there, they leave the doors unlocked. Silently I curse budget cuts.

The bell has only just wrung so not many people are in the hallways. I try to draw attention to myself, but no one is in this part of the building. I know crying out will make it worse so I silently suffer and let him drag me into the empty room.

Suddenly I remember Jace. Wasn't he just following me? I desperately glance down the hall and see him, with his back turned talking to none other then Aline. In that one glance all my hope fades away. Izzy's class is on the other side of the school with Simon, and Jace is clearly of no use.

Tears leave rivers and levees running down my face carved through my makeup. The door falls shut agonizingly quietly. Now there was nothing to hope for other then the most minimal thing he could do, which would be to talk. I had a feeling he was planning on more then this though.

His harsh screeching laugh broke the sobs I was holding in and he sneered at me, "Don't cry little sister, your lucky. I'm not going to hurt you. I just don't want all your looks to go to waste. Even if you are ugly, I can make use of you."

He yanked my arm that was still in his firm grip and slammed me against the wall, pushing me up against it with by my shoulders forcing me onto my tippy toes. I suddenly have a terrifying insight on what he plans to do. The grotesque thought invades my mind and all I can think is; my brother, he's my brother. "I definitely won't waste you", Sebastian repeats with a menacing smile.

He leaned down until his lips are parallel with my neck and whispers, "Clarissa stop crying, it is sort of ruining the moment."

"Please stop!" I sobbed quietly, "I didn't do anything to deserve this just please. I'll do anything, just not this." I try to kick away but his hold on me stays strong.

I felt his cold breath against my neck as he laughed once again. "I'm sorry, but that isn't an option at the moment."

Suddenly a loud crashing sound came from the door, and the sound of shattering glass filled my ears. Someone had thrown a basketball against the glass door and shattered it. The sound of laughing students running away from their accidental vandalism fills my ears like the sounds of heaven.

Realizing this would lead to an onslaught of teachers coming to asses the damage Sebastian mutters, "Damn it! I'll see you later Clarissa." Before sprinting out the door.

The traumatizing events wore me out and I slid down the wall into a sitting position with my arms around my knees and my head down. My sobs were no longer quiet so it wasn't surprising when the broken door opened and instead of revealing teachers, there was a boy. At first I thought it was Sebastian again, come to finish what he started, until I saw the hair color didn't match and he wasn't as tall.

"Clary?" a familiar voice called.

I flinched away from Jace and fumbled to the back corner of the library. Although I still couldn't muffle my sobs so he found me easily enough.

I lifted my head slowly and when he saw my face he simultaneously flinched and gasped. I assume the makeup had rubbed of by know revealing the large handprint on my face, which only caused me to cry louder. In seconds he was by my side with his arms around me.

I flinched violently away. His arms felt too much like Sebastian's, when he was just as close. "Did I do something?" Jace asked with hurt clear in his voice.

I slowly shook my head, and he nodded back before taking a seat on the floor in front of me with his back resting on the side of the bookcase. His presence was oddly comforting, even without the close contact, and I was happy when he let me cry it out until I got up my courage and said, "If I tell you this I am putting you in danger, so you have to tell me it is okay." He nodded once and said, "You can tell me."

"Okay, here's what happened. I'm sure you're curious…"

**I know this isn't a very long chapter but I intend to begin updating regularly again. I sort of got out of practice with my writing so this isn't my best work. If I ever don't update for too long just leave me a review telling me to stop being lazy and I will listen. I think I am going to start another story based on Max, but first I have to be able to deal with this one, so we will see. Please review **


	12. Chapter 12

**I really appreciate, all the reviews telling me to update. Sometimes I don't realize how long it has really been. This chapter took longer then expected because I wrote it, then hated the direction I was taking it in, and then deleted half of it so I could rewrite it. So enjoy.**

"When I was in like fifth grade, my parents got divorced, because my dad had cheated on my mom", I see Jace wants to say something but I silence him with my hand before continuing," Of course when they split up my dad got all the money and my mom got practically nothing. She didn't even get me full time. I spend half the week with her and half with my dad."

I've only ever told Simon and more recently Izzy my story, so I thought Jace's reaction would be the same, but even though I have just begun, Jace doesn't have this sympathetic; guilty about anything mean he's ever done to me, look. It's more a knowing look, which takes me off guard. I suck in another sobbing breath before realizing I've paused for more then a few seconds. Jace is looking at me waiting, and probably afraid to say anything so I continue.

"That's how I ended up at this school. It's in the middle of a poor neighborhood and a rich one. No one really knows where I live except my friends so I never fell into one of the social groups. Normally the people in the middle, like me, get bullied, so a couple years ago I made this plan to become one of those popular brats, one week a year just so they would leave me alone, and so far it has worked", I paused to take a breath, and look into Jace's bewildered face. I continue with the few words that I expect will have the most effect on him, "fortunately or unfortunately, I don't really know what, but you arrived at this school in my 'popular week'", I say with air quotes.

My previous assumption was incorrect, he just smiled half a smile and said, "I knew a girl couldn't be popular and like video games, and cars."

Through my tears I glare. "There are plenty of girls who play video games or know about cars and lots of them happen to be popular. You're just being a sexist idiot."

All my sadness starts to channel out into anger towards Jace. Why am I even talking to him? He was out flirting with the bane of my existence Aline while I was being harassed by my creepy half brother. He's the one who always thinks I can't do anything. How low have I stooped to be talking to him? Tears sting at the back of my eyes once again, but before they can spill over I yell at him, "Why am I even talking to the likes of you. All you've ever been is mean to me, and have complicated my life even more then necessary. Why are you even in here? Cleary I want to be alone!" Those last words were a lie. I didn't want to be alone, I want to be with friends, and clearly he isn't one of them. I hate myself even more for being so delusional in thinking we were friends.

I begin stomping towards the door when he yells beside me. I can tell he has gotten as angry as I am. "Me am mean to you? You're the one bossing me around all the time, telling me how to do this, or that I'm doing that wrong. You just criticize me all the time. I mean what the hell! I come in here wanting to help because you are just so 'casually' sobbing on the ground, and instead you start yelling at me about how I am wrong? You don't even know me."

I spin around and scream right back, "What and you know me?"

"I know enough. You lie to everyone about where you come from and who you are. Every year you use everyone to become popular and mess with other people, only for your benefit. You are so full of yourself too. You can't let anyone do anything on their own. And what were you going to do when the week was over? Ditch us? You're just a stupid, lying, little girl, with daddy issues. Get over yourself some people have it harder then you."

With that he shoved my shoulder hard enough to knock me over on the way out, and once again I was left alone in the dark room, to think over everything.

Is that what people really think of me?

My anger fades and I feel a deep depression taking over me. I want to cry and let it out but the tears won't come, so I do the next best thing.

By now everyone is in there next class so I head to and empty bathroom and start to fix my makeup. The bruise luckily was still covered enough to pass as smeared eyeliner and eye shadow. Jace probably didn't notice. Jace.

Thinking back on it, I totally jumped to conclusions and over reacted and now I have enemies. I tried so hard to not have anyone who would want to harm me, and now I have three. My dad, Sebastian, and Jace.

After my face once again looked perfect, I plastered on a huge fake smile. It sort of reminded me of the sinister smiles creepy people have on in horror movies, when they are hiding something, so I try to tone it down. When I look at my seemingly regular smile in the mirror it makes me sick. How long am I going to have to hide these things and put on a fake smile? I more then anything want to take the smile off but it feels stuck in place, like I've gone onto auto happy Clary pilot. I straighten out my clothes and don't pay much attention to anything as I walk through the halls.

My depression had gone away with the sick feeling and was left behind with a dull ache in my stomach. It felt like a chasm was opening inside of me and was beginning to eat me from the inside. In my mind I knew what it wanted. Revenge. Revenge on everyone, and anyone who got in my way.

This feeling scared me, but this hunger for violence was just getting started. The further I walked with that grotesque smile the more I craved it.

This is probably why I am doomed to be alone forever. I am just angry on the inside and I could hulk out at any moment. Who would want me or Sebastian? We really are just the same; he just isn't as discrete as I am. I'm probably the reason my parents split up, and why I don't have many friends. I'm just stupid Clary. The stupid, lying, little girl, Clary.

My emotions are in turmoil going from sad and depressed to angry and violent. I start walking through the halls. In one moment my exhaustion takes over and everything starts to spin.

Everything goes blank.

I pull my eyes open and feel myself being lifted onto a gurney. A teacher from one of the nearby classes is talking to the ambulance person. My head hurts and I squint at the light. I am having one serious migraine. They start to wheel me down the hallway towards the front of the school where I assume they have parked the ambulance.

The bell rings giving me a sign of how long I have been out. Class had been about half way through, I think, when I passed out. Students flood into the halls and loud noise erupts, making my headache worse.

Soon the loud noise is directed at me, and I let out a loud gasp as a particularly piercing ache knocks the inside of my head. My gasp is followed by a responding gasp from the crowd as they watch me go. I probably would be worried about how stupid I look if my damn head would stop hurting.

The person pushing me notices I'm awake and starts talking to me, "Hey, how are you feeling?" they ask.

"My head hurts", I moan quietly.

"Yes, you seem to have hit your head when you passed out", they respond.

The wheeling speed increases, and we are almost out the door when I hear three voices simultaneously yell my name.

The loud noise once again, sends a painful throb through my skull. "AH!" I yell, pulling my hands up to my head and trying to push the pain away.

"CLARY, Clary, what happened?" Izzy's voice cries.

"Quiet, please be quiet, your making my head hurt worse", I moan just loud enough for her to hear.

"Oh sorry", she whispers, "What happened?"

"I fainted, I think", I respond gasping out each word through the pain in my head.

"I'm sorry dear, but we have to leave. You can visit her in the hospital", the person pushing me says.

Another voice joins the conversation, my eyes are squeezed shut, but I immediately recognize Simon, "We are really close friends and both her parents are working at the moment I believe, so we are probably going to be the best ones to inform you of her medical history." He sounds so formal and I guess he convinced her because I feel three sets of feet entering the ambulance after me.

I open my eyes a smidge, just enough to see who the third person is, entering the vehicle, "No!" I scream causing me to cry out once again at the noise, "I don't want you here."

"Who, me?" Izzy asks.

"No", I gasp

"Well it's not me", Simon states, fully aware of my necessity for him at the moment, "so that means it's you Jace."

"Uhhh", Jace is clearly worried, and guilt is etched all over his face.

"Why can't he come?" Izzy asks quietly again.

"Because I'm 'a stupid, lying, little girl, with daddy issues' apparently, or so Jace says", I say trying to put venom in my words full of pain.

"WHAT!" Simon and Izzy yell at the same time, once again causing my head serous pain.

"Just get him to leave and he can explain later, I can't deal with this right now", I say to my friends who nod while still maintaining there glares at Jace.

"You heard her. Get out!" Izzy says in a vehement whisper.

"I just wa…" Jace starts but is somehow cut off. Due to the thud I heard a few seconds later I assume one of my friends pushed him out of the car.

This seems to be a cue for the ambulance person to show up. She asks Simon about my allergies, and then gives me some pain killers that put me to sleep.

I fall into emptiness assuring myself that at least I have Simon and Izzy. They can help me through this.

**So leave me a review, and does anyone watch the show Supernatural because I just finished season 7 and I have now passed all my friends who watch it and I am supposed to be catching up in Doctor Who but I am too interested in Supernatural. Review! **


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